Christmas

Spiced Apple Cookies

December 13, 2009
4
1 Ratings
  • Serves 3 dozen
Author Notes

My childhood neighbor, Katie, made these cookies all the time for Christmas when we were growing up. A few years ago she finally gave me the recipe and now I make them during the holiday season, too. They are essentially the flavors of apple pie in cookie form. —Kelsey Banfield

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Ingredients
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1 1/3 cups brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup chopped unpeeled apple (seeds and core removed)
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 375.
  2. In a small saucepan add the raisins and fill with water until raisins are just covered. Bring to a boil and then remove pan from heat. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. Drain raisins and reserve.
  3. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat together shortening and brown sugar. Then, beat in the egg and the milk.
  4. In a separate bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves and nutmeg. With the mixer on low, slowly add this to the shortening mixture. Beat until everything is well blended.
  5. With a wooden spoon stir in the nuts, apple and drained raisins. Drop by heaping teaspoonful onto cookie sheet. Press the tops of the cookies down slightly with two fingers. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.
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Home cook, food blogger, cookbook author, wine lover, avid traveler, and mother of two young children. Check out my books: The Naptime Chef: Fitting Great Food into Family Life (2012), and The Family Calendar Cookbook: From Birthdays to Bake Sales, Good Food to Carry You Through the Year (2015), Running Press.

7 Reviews

Cindy G. October 6, 2015
they have the same recipe and contribute it to the same neighbor.....or is this you?
cowgirlculture December 20, 2010
These look great! Can you use applesauce instead of the shortening? Just curious if you have tried it. I am looking for some recipes to include after the holidays to help come off of the Christmas treats.
bvrlybest December 10, 2010
I thought these looked interesting and had all ingredients so just baked them. Re-read the recipe several times pondering the lack of so much as a pinch of salt. Overall, they were dry, bland and uninteresting even as a cookie for children. I wouldn't make them again
Maria T. December 19, 2009
MMM... I join you both dymnyno and antoniajames, this Naptime chef has some fabulous recipes and I seem to stumble on the 2 ladies below on more then one occasion. I think we like the same recipes and cooks!
dymnyno December 15, 2009
I just noticed that both me and antoniajames started our posts with mmmmm. That is testiment to how delicious your cookies look.
dymnyno December 15, 2009
mmmm...these look sooo moist and cheewy...can't wait to try this recipe.
AntoniaJames December 13, 2009
Mmmmm. yummy! Looks like my mother's applesauce cake recipe transformed into a cookie. Delightful! (On my must-try list, too!!)